Returning to the Light
by Tron45
Summary: This is a fan-fic I created that takes place between the final chapter and the epilogue of The Bones of Makaidos. Pretty big spoilers for those who haven't read DIOM or OOF. Rated T for some mild violence just to be on the safe side.


Returning to the Light

By Levi Heiser

Chapter 1: A Honeymoon

Billy stepped out of the taxi to take in the sights of Rome. After the war four months prior in Second Eden, He thought that this would be the perfect place for him to have his honeymoon with Bonnie. Of course that was if he ignored the cameras flashing and the reporters shouting questions about his wife's wings and his fire breathing.

Bonnie had decided to reveal her wings to the world which had caused a media frenzy. When it looked like a honeymoon was out of the question, the President of the United States offered the weary couple a trip to Rome; all expenses paid of course. When it was announced to the Roman government, all the poshest and even some not so posh hotels offered them the best rooms they could offer.

Remembering his amusement at the offers, Billy helped his wife out of the taxi, being careful not to squish her wings. She was followed by Billy's best friend, Walter, and his wife, Ashley. Upon returning from Second Eden, it was agreed that the four newlyweds would take their honeymoons simultaneously.

"Aren't you going to carry us over the threshold," quipped Bonnie, almost having to shout above the din of the reporters and shutter clicks.

"We don't have to carry you until we get to the actual hotel room," replied Billy as Bonnie signed a little girl's notebook and let her touch her wings.

"Yeah, we already have to carry the luggage. Once the bellboy takes it into the room, then we'll carry you," Walter quipped back.

When they reached room 390, and the two grooms did the brides the honor of carrying them into the room, they took in their surroundings. The room was spacious yet cozy. It sported two beds that looked like they would feel like clouds.

"Hey gang," Walter piped up. "What say we get some grub?"

"First of all, Walter, we ate on the plane an hour ago, and second of all, with you, the first thing you think of is food no matter where you are," Billy said as he plopped down in a chair, well aware of his friend's habit of thinking of food too often.

"I saw a pizza joint not too far from here, so I'm going to get a large one with pepperoni. Does that sound good?"

When all heads had nodded, Walter walked out of the room, followed by Ashley.

"Billy," said Bonnie, trying to swallow a lump in her throat that refused to go down, "I've been waiting to tell you this, and I thought that now was the best time to tell it."

She handed a small white, almost cylindrical object to Billy. Accidently pulling the cap off of the end, which removed the top half of the object, he revealed a stiff piece of plastic covered in some kind of fabric. His confusion heightening with possible recognition of the device, he looked at the small rectangular screen on the other end of the object. Billy looked up at her with disbelief. "You're serious?"

"Yes, Billy. I'm pregnant."

Jumping up from his seat, Billy scooped Bonnie up in his arms and spun around in circles, laughing and crying at the same time. He finally put her down, but he held her as if he just wouldn't let her go.

Walter and Ashley came in just then, Walter carrying a very large, very high, pizza box. "I see Bonnie told you the good news," said Ashley.

"Congratulations, Billy. You're going to be a dad," added Walter

Putting Bonnie down, Billy embraced his two friends, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm in Rome, on my honeymoon with my wife and two best friends; I couldn't be happier."

"You won't be saying that when the morning sickness starts setting in and the hospital bills begin to add up," Walter added.

"Just wait till I get pregnant, Walter, then you'll get to feel the joy," Ashley replied.

Walter immediately stopped talking, obviously realizing the truth behind his wife's statement. Billy and Bonnie however, couldn't stop laughing at their friend's silence. Walter finally spoke up. "I'm starving. Let's break open that pizza."

The four friends bit into the pizza half heartedly between snickers at their conversation. After a few crusts remained in the box, Billy asked, "What temple should we go to tomorrow?"

"I think we should go to Minerva's temple, she was the Goddess of Wisdom," replied Ashley.

"I vote for Juno's, she was the queen of the gods," Bonnie piped in.

"I want to go to Jupiter's. He was the one who sent his lightning bolts to fry you if he was mad," Walter added.

"I think that we should go to Mars' temple. There's a myth going around that his very sword is somewhere in that temple," said Billy.

"Sounds good to me," Walter put out.

"I agree," was Ashley's reply.

"I'm in," agreed Bonnie.

"Then it's settled," said Billy. "In the morning, we'll pick a fight with the God of War."

Chapter 2: Sophia Maggedon

The temple was amazing! Walking with a tour group they had joined a few minutes ago, Billy, Bonnie Walter, and Ashley stared in awe as they listened to the words of the tour guide.

"This temple was constructed about 35 B.C. Legend has it that Mars himself visited and gave his sword into the care of the priests that ministered here. Shortly after, the reign of Jupiter came to an end, and Mars never returned to take his sword. It is believed that in honor to the god, the priests put his sword along with the swords and shields of fallen warriors underneath this temple. Archeologists are trying to find a way to infiltrate that very room where it is believed that the sword is."

After the tour, when there was nobody in the temple, the four friends stayed walking around the area where the room was supposed to be. Kneeling, Billy found Latin words on the floor. "Ashley, can you translate this?"

Coming over, Ashley looked at the letters and said, "It's a poem that seems to be a riddle concerning getting into the room with Mars' sword. It says,

With a sword in hand

A true warrior must prove his strength

Will he find the sword of Mars, or will the brand

Of Jupiter be on him who strikes his fellow's statue?

Take the sword and challenge your foe

And when he responds not

Implement the first strike to his sword

And you will find it was a battle worth fought.

"That sounds like Merlin's style," remarked Walter.

"It looks like someone has to strike at Mars' sword," said Bonnie.

With one last look at the poem, Billy got up and began to walk toward the statue of Mars. Drawing Excalibur from his back scabbard, Billy set his feet in a ready stance and struck at the steel sword in Mars' hand. The clang reverberated throughout the temple walls. There was then a grinding sound as a trapdoor opened in the wall near where he discovered the letters.

Billy walked into the room, using Excalibur's glow to light the way. He turned when he heard footsteps behind him, seeing that his wife and two friends decided to join him. A little farther into the passage, Billy found an unlit torch. Pulling it out of its mount on the wall, Billy took in a deep breath, and heaved a narrow stream of fire, lighting the torch. Sheathing Excalibur, Billy led the way deeper into the tunnel.

Eventually, they came to a dark room that had torches lining the walls. After lighting all of them, Billy and his friends beheld the treasures in the room.

Not only were there swords and shields from ancient Rome, but there was also gold and jewels from that same time and earlier.

But the greatest treasure was in the center of the room, a sword about the size of Excalibur that rested in a scabbard on a square stone slab. Billy reached for the sword and pulled it out of its scabbard.

All four friends marveled at how well the sword was kept, even after all these years.

"The Sword of Mars," said Billy in awe.

Just as they were about to leave and tell the archeologists about their find, a small "chick-chick" sounded in the cavern. After Billy put down the sword, they spun around as one, which brought them face to face with two men and a woman. The two men had .9 millimeter pistols, both of which were aimed at them.

The woman was dressed in a tight fitting, jet black outfit that had knee high black boots and elbow length black gloves. She had short blonde hair and a .9 mil. in her belt. With an air of loftiness, she said to her two, chubby short henchmen, "Oh, look, four ordinary people that are standing in the way of our prize." With a grin, she added, "Have at it, boys."

Just as the two men were about to fire, Billy pulled out Excalibur, and lunged for the two men. They both holstered their guns and grabbed swords of their own from the collection of weapons. One of the men lunged for Billy, but he parried his strike with ease and struck the sword away from the other goon. Turning around, Billy swung for the first man's foot. He jumped over it but Billy brought his blade up and whacked his opponent's sword away.

Just as he turned, he found the woman looking at him with a solemn face as she aimed her pistol at Bonnie. "Drop the sword," she demanded.

Billy sheathed Excalibur, and loosened the belt, allowing it to slowly drop to the floor.

With a sly grin, she looked at him and said, with poison dripping in her words, "You shouldn't have decided to pick a fight with Sophia Maggedon."

Chapter 3: To Retrieve Ares' Sword

In the back of a van, with his hands tied behind his back and his mouth in a gag, Billy tried to figure out a way to get to his wife and friends. He had given up on trying to loosen the gag to breath fire on the ropes given the fact the two men who tied him up put the gag on extremely tight. He tried to look for something sharp to cut the ropes on.

_God, I need some help. My sword's gone and my fire breath is useless for now. My wife and two best friends are in trouble and need my help. Show me a way out of here._

Adding a muffled, "Amen," Billy took a fresh look at the van. He noticed that there were a couple of matches and an old newspaper in the seat in front of him. Turning around and reaching behind him he grabbed a match and brought his back to the wall. It took a couple tries but he managed to light the match on the rusty interior of the van. Turning around and trying to move back a little bit further, Billy reached to light the newspaper.

The corner caught on fire! Leaning back just a little further, Billy managed to resist the flames as they ate away at the ropes. As they weakened, he pulled his arms apart with all his might. The ropes came apart with a snap. Billy immediately pulled the knot on the gag apart and rubbed his jaw.

After putting out the fire, Billy jumped forward and opened one of the doors. Sliding it quietly open, Billy snuck around the van and moved to another one that was about ten feet away. Pulling open the doors, he found that they had stuffed Walter and Excalibur into the back.

After Billy pulled off the gag, Walter said, "What took you so long?"

"I had to bust out of my own 'prison cell,' replied Billy as he used his sword to cut his friends ropes.

"Come on, let's find Bonnie and Ashley."

Walking through a set of tunnels under the temple, Bonnie and Ashley reluctantly followed Sophia, who had Mars' sword in its scabbard around her hips. Realizing that she wouldn't tell them where there husbands were, they decided to keep quiet until they figured out what was going on.

After coming to a new chamber, they saw that there was an entire chemistry lab that appeared to be designated to dating artifacts.

Turning toward her two prisoners, Sophia pulled out her gun and aimed it at Bonnie. "I know that you're really smart. Either date this sword for us or your friend here dies," she barked at Ashley.

Moving to one of the tables, Ashley took the sword from Sophia's scabbard. Keeping her gun trained on Bonnie, Sophia followed her around making sure that she wouldn't smash the sword or try to fight her way out the room.

Ashley began the long process of dating the sword. After about an hour, she turned and said "The sword was made about 34 B.C."

"What do you mean 'It was made.'? That sword belonged to Mars himself. Whoever wields it can rule the world."

Bonnie immediately spoke up, "That's just a bunch of bologna. Mars was never real. Besides, legend says that an old man prophesied concerning how well that sword would work in battle. Wasn't it said 'Mars' sword is clouded with the ways of the Devil. One day a sword will arise in the north that will be as bright as the day. Good and evil will clash once again. It will seem that evil will win, but the one who wields the sword of Ares will threaten the woman the wielder of the Northern Sword loves. It will prove to be a fatal mistake, as the sword will burn bright with righteous light.' Haven't you heard the legends of Excalibur? It can glow quite bright when Billy gets angry, especially when you threaten me."

"Yes but he isn't an heir to a king."

"Yes he is. Legally, he is the direct grandson of King Arthur."

Ashley asked, "Who was that old man?"

"No one knows," replied Bonnie.

"Like Billy will able to destroy me," said Sophia in her lofty voice. "My father was a great Mafia Boss. And now I will be able to prove to him that I will be able to take over the family business."

"I wouldn't call killing people and stealing ancient artifacts a very good business to get into."

"Be quiet, or so help me I'll kill you right here and now, then I won't be able to threaten the 'woman the wielder of the Northern Sword loves.'"

With a small grin on her face, Bonnie made eye contact with Ashley who returned the gesture. Turning back to Sophia, Bonnie said, pointing behind her, "I think they might have something to say about that."

"That one was old in the stone age."

Suddenly, there was a great flash of light, causing everyone to turn towards the tunnel where Walter stood with an AR15 next to a very angry Billy with a glowing Excalibur.

"All but true, Miss Maggedon," said Billy.

Chapter 4: Say What?

"You'll never get out of here alive," Sophia said defiantly.

"If you're referring to the two men that we met outside, they won't be giving us any trouble for a very long time," replied Walter, brandishing his AR15. "An automatic assault rifle works wonders, even if you don't pull the trigger."

"We managed to convince them to take a hike," said Billy, as Ashley and Bonnie ran towards them.

"I have five other men that could shoot a fly right between the eyes," replied Sophia.

"Oh yeah, then how come they couldn't shoot us while I zapped them?"

"You did what," Sophia asked in disbelief.

"I turned them into a thousand scattered particles of light. Where do you think Walter got the AR15? He wanted a guys AK47, but I told him to leave it."

"You'll pay for this."

"We get that a lot, but the only thing I've paid for is my take out," Walter replied.

"I suggest you stay right here Miss Maggedon, otherwise, I'll let Walter have at it with his gun," Billy said.

All of a sudden, a click sounded behind them. The four friends spun around only to see the two men mentioned earlier on a ledge, both with AK47s.

"I told you that I should've grabbed the AK47s," Walter whispered into Billy's ear as he dropped his gun.

"Don't remind me," said Billy as he sheathed Excalibur. Leaning to Bonnie, Billy whispered into her ear, "Bonnie, do you think you can fly up and snatch their guns?"

Nodding, Bonnie turned and began to position herself for getting the guns. Suddenly, she launched into the air and tried to make it to the two henchmen with the weapons on the ledge.

Sophia immediately pulled out a palm sized candlestone, causing Bonnie to falter and fall.

Billy, clutching his stomach, fell to the ground as well. Walter lunged for Sophia's candlestone but she pulled out her gun and aimed it at Ashley. Backing off, Walter asked, "How did you know that a candlestone would weaken them?"

"I was in league with Sir Devin for a while. He showed me pictures of those two and told me that a candlestone weakens them to the point of death."

"It seems like Devin's cronies keep on popping out of nowhere."

"I'm not one of his cronies. We were in league together temporarily."

Then, one of the henchmen with the AK47s spoke up. "I thought he was the guy who asked to marry you and then dumped you a week before the wedding."

"Shut up, you fool."

Walter couldn't hide his amusement and cried out, "YOU WERE GOING TO MARRY SIR DEVIN? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Even though both Billy and Bonnie were in pain, they too smiled at the thought of Sir Devin marrying anyone.

"Shut up! That's it. I'm going to kill one of you to show you that I mean business."

Still holding the candlestone, she grabbed Mars' sword from the workbench Ashley left it on and looked around the room. She pointed it at Walter, then at Ashley, Billy, and finally at Bonnie. The sword reflected the dim light that was left from what the candlestone didn't suck up as Sophia raised the sword samurai style above her head and made ready to strike off Bonnie's head.

Chapter 5: Shade

Sophia swung the sword down at Bonnie, but halted just before the blade reached her neck. Billy, who was breathing hard and struggling to stay conscious from the lack of energy due to the candlestone's ability, looked up in fear for his wife's life. Unable to do anything except pray, he was sweating sheets of rain as he thought of what Sophia might do to Bonnie.

"Wait," said Sophia. "I sense my master wishes for me to know something."

Looking at Ashley with a worried expression on his face, Billy tried to convey that he wanted her to pick up what Sophia was feeling. She obviously picked it up, because the expression on her face said it all. Sophia was referring to Lucifer when she said "my master".

"So, all of a sudden, you go from getting married to Sir Devin to Morgan LaFaye's niece," Billy asked groaning as he struggled to get up from the concrete floor.

"Devin was able to acquaint me with Morgan and now I serve the real master of the Universe," she replied. Then, suddenly, a black aura appeared around Mars' sword, similar to the glow from Excalibur. Sophia pulled the sword back from Bonnie's neck and a beam that looked like ink from a fountain pen blasted out of the tip of the sword. She swung the beam at Bonnie then Ashley, but instead of disintegrating them like Excalibur would have, it simply left them alone, or so it seemed. Bonnie got up from the ground, laughing like Sophia. She looked at Billy and made eye contact with her yellow eyes.

"What have you done to them," asked Walter after he saw that the same thing happened to Ashley?

"I've demonstrated the power of Shade, the anti-Excalibur," she replied.

Putting away the candlestone, and turning the light up to maximum, she turned to Billy and said, "I'm going to want you to be at full strength when you join me."

But allowing Billy's photoreceptors get enough light to revive his strength was not a good idea. As soon as he got the strength to stand, he shouted, "Walter, run!"

Bolting for the tunnel at the other end of the room, Billy and Walter ducked under the blasts from Shade. At the end of the tunnel, they were able to see light, but when they reached it, they screeched to a halt before they fell off of a 20 foot high cliff. Turning around, Billy saw that the three women were coming for them with the two men that still had the AK-47s.

"I never thought that my wife would try to kill me before I got her pregnant," said Walter.

"Given a choice between dead and wet with maybe a few scratches," said Billy as he and Walter turned around, "I pick wet."

They both jumped just as Sophia and the other four made it to the small ledge that they had been standing on. The three women and two men looked over the edge to see the two friends plunge into the water.

Chapter 6: Enoch's Visit

_Got to get to the surface before we drown, _shouted Billy in his mind. Breaking the surface and gasping as much air as his lungs would allow, he began to swim for the shore. Crawling on his hands and knees out of the blue sea coughing, he noticed that Walter was right beside him.

"Good thing we were the best swimmers in our scout troop, huh," asked Billy between coughs?

"Yeah, I'm just glad I did that instead of knot tying," replied Walter, who had flopped on his back and was lying face up in the white sands of the beach.

"Better check Excalibur for any water damage," said Billy pulling out Excalibur.

The blade came out easily. Pulling off his scabbard and turning it upside down, Billy noticed that there was no water in the scabbard.

"The scabbard must be waterproof," he remarked. Looking up, Billy saw a familiar landscape. Pointing to a building that was about 50 yards away, he asked, "Walter isn't that the place you got that pizza yesterday?"

"Yeah, why," Walter asked looking up.

"That means the hotel we're staying at isn't too far from here. Come on; let's go get some dry clothes on."

They got to the hotel and put some dry clothes on. Billy walked out of the bathroom rubbing his tousled hair with a towel. Wearing his favorite new pair of cargo pants that his parents had got him for a wedding present as a replacement for his older ones that had grown to small for him; he couldn't get the image of Bonnie's yellow eyes out of his mind.

"How are we going to pull this one off," asked Walter. "Normally we can just set Excalibur to deep fat fry and take out the bad guys; but no, now we have to fight our own wives and a chick that just so happens to have a sword that has its own cooking settings."

"How should I know," Billy retorted. Sitting down, he rested his head on his hand. A knock sounded at the door. "Room service."

"Walter," Billy lamented. "What did you order while I was changing? Man, I can't leave you alone for two minutes, can I?"

"You know for once, I didn't order anything."

The old man standing behind the cart at the door hurried in before Walter or Billy could say anything. Suddenly, their faces lit up in recognition.

"Enoch," they said at the same time.

"Yes, it's me." Pulling two pizza boxes off the cart, Enoch handed them to the two friends while he started to talk. "You obviously have a lot of questions, so while you eat I'll explain. Shade has given Bonnie and Ashley powers similar to Morgan, but not as extensive. You will be able to save them however. If you hold Excalibur's beam on the girls for five seconds, Shades effects will be removed from your wives. But you must be quick, should they still be under its effects for another 2 hours, the damage will be irreversible by Excalibur. Do you understand?"

Walter and Billy both nodded. When the pizza boxes were empty, Enoch took them and started for the door, but before he did, he turned abruptly and looked at them in the eyes. "I wish you Godspeed my friends."

When Enoch had left, Billy looked at Walter. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you're thinking that whatever your thinking is going to be a ridiculously dangerous and possibly suicidal mission that will most likely still work due to some kind of last minute flaw in the bad guy's plan, then yeah, I am thinking what you're thinking."

"Just like old times, right," Billy quipped as he pulled out his cell phone.

Chapter 7: A Final Encounter

Bonnie's jean pocket rang. She pulled out the cell phone that was in her pocket and read the caller ID. "It's Billy."

"Answer it," Sophia ordered.

Bonnie hit the talk button. "Hello, Billy." On the other end, Billy couldn't help thinking that her voice sounded like Morgan. Her slinkiness and smooth tone laced her words.

"Hello, Bonnie. Tell Sophia that I'm willing to make a deal with her. I'll fight her and if she wins, Walter and I won't offer any resistance. But if I win, we get you and Ashley back."

Bonnie relayed the challenge to Sophia. "All right," Bonnie said to Billy. "What say we meet you in the Coliseum."

"All right." Billy hung up the phone. Turning to Walter, Billy gave him a nod. They left the hotel and avoided the paparazzi on the way to the Coliseum. When they finally arrived, they waited for Sophia and the girls. Sophia appeared out of the shadows, Shade drawn. Billy quickly drew Excalibur and summoned a glow.

As if in response, Shade burst out its inky aura.

"Where are the girls," demanded Billy.

Sophia motioned and Bonnie and Ashley walked out of the shadows. _No, not walked out of the shadows_, thought Billy. _More like formed out of them._

Setting his jaw, he ignored all of the tourists taking pictures. He ran towards Sophia, closing the distance between them in a matter of seconds. She parried his strike and made her own. He spun and brought his blade down in a follow through. The battle continued, both blades still emanated their respective glows, and it looked like Billy would win, but Bonnie raised her hand and shot an inky bolt at Billy.

He turned and tried to block it with the beam, but didn't make it in time. Billy was launched backwards and skidded a few feet before coming to a halt. The tourists gasped and continued to snap pictures while Billy peeled himself off of the ground.

Billy clutched his ribcage. He stood on wobbly legs and tried to summon enough strength to fight, but he was battered and bruised. Seeing his wife with her yellow eyes made his blood boil. He checked his watch and saw that the two hours were almost up.

With new energy, Billy tried to blast Bonnie with the beam; but Sophia slashed at Billy and put a nasty gash in his chest. For the next two minutes, Billy tried futily to get the beam to make contact with his wife, but Sophia just kept on dealing out sword wounds. Blood pouring out of his body, Billy tried to get up but he couldn't.

With only five minutes on the clock, Billy heaved in shallow breaths. Walter stood, unable to help his friend otherwise Sophia would automatically win.

Excalibur still emitted a weak glow, but it was hanging limp in his hand. He looked at Bonnie with pleading eyes. "Wither shall I go from thy spirit, or wither shall I flee from thy presence. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there…"

It was far fetched, but if he could jog her memory by singing her song, he might be able to distract her long enough to free her.

A flash erupted from Excalibur. The blade glowed brighter then anybody had ever seen. The tourists snapped pictures even more now. Billy lifted Excalibur and the beam shot from the tip but did a 180o turn and blasted Billy. If one looked hard enough, they could see the effects of Excalibur's beam. It looked like millions of fireflies were swirling around Billy. His photoreceptors absorbed the light like sponges, sealing his wounds almost instantly. As he stood, he could feel new strength flooding both his muscles and Excalibur's beam.

He lashed out with the brilliant shaft of light and struck Bonnie. She tried to block it by creating a shield of black clouds, but it was useless against the sword's new beam. Bonnie glowed with a white brilliance.

_1, 2, 3…_ Billy counted the seconds. When the five seconds were up, he shifted the beam to Ashley who didn't have enough time to raise a shield. He slashed the beam one more time, and watched as Sophia Maggedon disintegrated into light energy.

Billy rushed to Bonnie who was lying unconscious on the ground. She finally stirred and opened her eyes. Still holding onto Excalibur, Billy held her tight; not wanting to let her go.

"What did I miss," asked Bonnie.

"I'll tell you when we get back to the hotel."

Epilogue

Billy sat in the waiting room. Looking at Walter, he finally spoke what both of them were thinking. "Waiting rooms were invented just to torture the husbands at these moments."

Walter chuckled at his best friend's remark. "She'll be fine."

"I know that," said Billy, a hint of exasperation in his voice. "But just sitting here is killing me." Rising to his feet, Billy began to pace the floor. Ashley came in carrying two cups of coffee which she handed to the two men.

"I know it's hard," she said. "But you've been waiting for 9 months. A few extra hours isn't going to kill either of you."

Billy brought the cup to his lips and downed the hot coffee in one gulp. "Did that feel good," asked Walter.

"Yep."

"Did it hurt?"

"Oh yeah," gasped Billy as he grasped his throat.

For the next 10 minutes, the three friends sat in silence. When a woman came out in blue scrubs, Billy shot to his feet. "You can see her know," said the woman.

Billy followed her to a room to which she opened the door. He walked in and looked at Bonnie who was lying in an angled bed, holding two infants wrapped in blankets. He walked up to her and placed his hand gingerly on the rail.

With tears welling in his eyes, he leant forward and kissed Bonnie on the forehead. "What should we name them," she asked.

Billy took the one she had in her right arm. The baby was wrapped in a purple blanket while the other one was wrapped in a blue blanket, the doctor's method of signifying genders. His daughter was a bit fussy as Billy held her, whereas her brother stayed fast asleep in his mother's arms.

"She's got a bit of a fighter's spirit. How does 'Karen' sound to you," he asked.

"I like that a lot." Bonnie looked at their son's sleeping face. "He's a bit calmer than his sister. What do you think about 'Charles'?"

A huge grin spread across Billy's face. "That sounds fantastic." Handing Karen back to Bonnie, he turned to leave the room so that Bonnie could rest. Just before he closed the door, he looked back at Bonnie. _Yes_, he thought. _One adventure ended, but a new one is starting. And it is going to be absolutely fantastic._

THE END


End file.
